The Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition (CWGK) is a freely accessible online collection of historical documents associated with the chief executives of the state — three Union and two provisional Confederate. Yet CWGK is about far more than the five governors. The project works through the office of the governor to preserve the diverse and largely unknown lives of tens of thousands of Kentuckians, opening new windows onto the compelling, important, and overlooked narratives. CWGK published the facsimiles and transcriptions of 10,000 documents on its website, discovery.civilwargovernors.org, in 2016. In the fall of 2017 CWGK will publish 1,500 annotated documents featuring a networked corpus of people, organizations, places, and geographical features through which users can situate the documents in social and geographical space.

The CWGK Digital Humanities & Event Intern will gain practical skills in digital collections management, textual editing, annotation, and interpretation of historical content. The intern will also assist full-time project staff in the preparations for and hosting of two major events, the CWGK Symposium and the KHS Genealogy Town Hall.

The internship is a maximum of 450 hours (37.5 for 12 weeks).  The ideal schedule is mid-May through early August; but the exact timeframe and schedule will be mutually determined by the supervisor and the successful candidate.

Minimum requirements: Must be currently enrolled in an accredited graduate level program working towards a degree in public history, history or other related field. The candidate must have strong research and organization skills.

KHS is a state agency and membership organization that is fully accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The KHS mission is to educate and engage the public through Kentucky’s history in order to confront the challenges of the future.

This is a temporary, paid position based in Frankfort, Ky. The stipend is $5,175.  Employee benefits are not available. Housing is not provided.

To apply, submit a narrative statement—focused on the questions below—of professional ability in the form of a cover letter, a CV, and two letters of recommendation tokhs.hr@ky.gov.

Research Experience: Describe your familiarity with research in 19th century U.S. history. Describe some projects you have undertaken. What sources have you used? Have you been published? Have you interpreted historical research in forms other than a scholarly peer-reviewed publication? Describe your familiarity with the strengths and weaknesses of online research databases such as Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, ProQuest, and Google Books.

DH Experience: Describe your understanding of and/or experience with the “Digital Humanities.” From what you understand of the CWG-K project, how does it fit with current trends in the field? Describe any work you have done in. the editing of historical documents. Discuss how a project such as CWG-K maintains balance between thorough research and production schedules. Have you worked on other collaborative projects in the field of history or otherwise? Describe your ability to meet deadlines and regulate workflow.

Events Experience: Describe your experiences with academic conferences and public history interpretation. How do you see those two different settings interacting with your research agenda? How do you communicate differently in those settings than in a scholarly publication? Do you have experience planning or coordinating a large public event? What did you take away from that experience?

To apply, email a cover letter, application, reference letters, and CV to khs.hr@ky.gov. No phone calls please.

Application deadline is March 15, 2017.